>> well, both men are not very good when they get on the defensive. so, you know, both have to be on the offense. but that's tricky in a town hall debate because the audience is also a participant in the debate and so i think going too strongly on offense like vice president biden did a couple of nights ago would be a mistake. so you have to -- you have to balance between going on offense but also making sure you're effectively connecting with the voters in the audience. >> alan, brett mentioned we're going a town hall style format. how significantly different is that. from what we've seen over the years, how do you win here? >> it's a very different format. it's a completely different feel. brett is absolutely right this question is how aggressive you can be. the important thing for the candidates is to really listen to those questions that are being asked and be very responsive to those. people hate it when politicians duck questions or don't answer the question that was asked so here's an opportunity for both of these candidates to really show thei